Fallout 3: Van Buren [PC – Cancelled]

Fallout 3: Van Buren [PC – Cancelled]

Fallout 3 was initially under development by Black Isle Studios, a studio owned by Interplay Entertainment, under the working title Van Buren. Van Buren was set to carry on the Fallout series, following Fallout 2, prior to being cancelled. Interplay Entertainment went bankrupt and closed down Black Isle Studios before the game could be completed, and the license to develop Fallout 3 was sold for a $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties to Bethesda Softworks, a studio primarily known as the developer of the The Elder Scrolls series. Bethesda’s Fallout 3 however, was developed from scratch, using neither Van Buren code, nor any other materials created by Black Isle Studios. Fallout 3 was to be centered around Utah and Colorado, but it also would have included areas of neighboring states. The player would be able to visit places such as Hoover Dam, Denver, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon. [Info from Wikipedia]

In May 2007, a playable technology demo of the cancelled project was released to the public. You can read more about and download the beta at No Mutant Allowed website. Various unused maps, weapons and models can still be found in this Alpha-demo thanks to some codes / hacks. Also, the full Fallout 3: Van Buren Design Doc was leaked online, you can find it in here!

In the videos below you can even see Chris Avellone talking about the project at the Framework 2009 convention.

Thanks to Robert Seddon and Megalol for the contributions!

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Videos:

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(7 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Since 2001 Unseen64 archive beta and cancelled videogames, till the 7th generation of consoles. There are too many unseen games to preserve, but many people help us with their contributions, screens, videos and descriptions. Do you want to help too?

“The purpose of this mod is to add back into the game all the content that was originally planned by the Fallout 2 devs. You will find about 6 new locations (some quite large, other smaller) as well as a few new areas to old locations. […]”

I can’t believe they even contemplated releasing Van Buren for this generation. With a top down view like this it’s not much to ask for decent graphics. Turn Based combat was only used due to a lack of processing power – this is a major step backwards and it’s hardly suprising that Black Isle racked up huge debts with such a shoddy output.

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